ISLAMABAD: The federal government has appointed Lieutenant General (retd) Nazir Ahmed as the chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Saturday after which the post has become vacant.
“According to section 6 of the National Accountability Ordinance 1999 (XVIII of 1999), as amended from time to time, consultations are held between the Leader of the House, the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly. And by the Federal Government as A consensus has been reached on the name of Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Nazir Ahmed for the appointment of Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB),” said a notification issued by the Prime Minister’s Office.
It should be noted that the position of Chairman NAB was vacant on February 15 after the resignation of Aftab Sultan, which was accepted by the Prime Minister on February 23.
Ahmed — a retired officer of the Pakistan Armed Forces — has been appointed in accordance with the procedure provided for in Section 6(b)(i) of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999. Which says;
b) Chairman, National Accountability Bureau,
- “i) There shall be a Chairman, National Accountability Bureau to be appointed by the Federal Government after consultation between the Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly.
Also, under section 6(b)(v),
- “v) The Chairman shall hold office for a non-extendable term of three years, on such terms and conditions as may be prescribed by the Federal Government, and shall not be eligible for appointment as Chairman thereafter and shall not be removed from office except That on the grounds and in the manner provided in Article 209 of the Constitution:
Resignation of Aftab Sultan
Earlier – in a move welcomed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) – Sultan had resigned as NAB chairman, after allegedly refusing to “toe the line”.
After the tenure of Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal expired last year, he was appointed by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government as the head of the anti-corruption agency for three years on July 21, 2022.
According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office, Sultan submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif due to personal reasons. On resigning, Sultan said: “I was asked to do some things that I did not accept.
Sources have revealed that the Sultan had refused to arrest politicians at the behest of anyone.
“In the last four months, they have been pressured by the government and some other agencies to file cases against people of their choice and arrest them,” he added.
According to sources, Sultan had also withdrawn the powers of arrest from the Director Generals (DGs) of NAB to avoid misuse of powers by the authorities.
